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Prince of Fire
|Next_book = }} is the fifth book in the Gabriel Allon series. Gabriel and others in the Office are drawn into a plot designed to make it look as if the Office is responsible for an act of terrorism. Gabriel's permanent team makes its debut. Synopsis The Dossier The Israeli embassy in Rome is attacked by a truck bomb and a group with sub-machine guns. Shimon Pazner, the head of the Rome Station escapes because he was away in a meeting with Italian officials. Within days, there is a break in the case. The Italians find a computer disk in a room believed to have been occupied by one of the terrorists. Unable to break through the security on the disk, they ask the Israelis for help. The Office penetrates the security on the disk but tells the Italians otherwise. The disk contains a dossier on Gabriel Allon Gabriel visits Julian Isherwood and tells him a painting he is considering purchasing is by Rubens; he agrees to restore the painting for Julian; together, they put off inquiries by Jeremy Crabbe. He goes on to visit with Leah at the Stratford Clinic, speaking first to Leonard Avery about her condition. The visit comes to nothing; Gabriel wants to tell her about Chiara, but Leah, who is being cared for by a new employee named Amira is completely unresponsive to him. Gabriel moves on to Venice to speak to Chiara, but finds Ari Shamron waiting for him with Chiara; Ari shows Gabriel his dossier. Ari tells Gabriel that he is being called back to duty with the Office. Gabriel responds that Leah and Chiara must be brought to Israel and Ari agrees. Gabriel goes to see Francesco Tiepolo, tells him he must leave and asks Tiepolo to finish his current restoration for him; Tiepolo agrees. Gabriel returns to King Saul Boulevard and with his team begins to assemble a picture of the bombing and a list of those possibly responsible. Rimona tells the group the story of Asad al-Khalifa and, with Gabriel's help, Sabri al-Khalifa. Rimona says that the link between the two men, the elusive Khaled al-Khalifa and the bombing in Rome is Beit Sayeed. The team travels to the ruins of the Palestinian village and Rimona points out the connections between the village the people involved; she tells the group that dates are also significant and predicts that al-Khalifa will hit the Israelis again in twenty-eight days. The Collaborator Paul Martineau is a French archeologist studying an ancient civilization near Aix-en-Provence, France. After working at a dig all day he makes excuses to his student and mistress Yvette Debré and departs for Marseilles, France. Upon arrival there, he goes to the Arab quarter and begins speaking Arabic. Ari and Gilah Shamron dine with Gabriel and Chiara. After the meal, Gabriel and Ari Shamron discuss Shamron's part in the clearing of Beit Sayeed during the 1940s. They go on to theorize about the case at hand. Ari tells Gabriel that the safe flat is now his property; that it was purchased for him by "a friend of the office." Ari gives Gabriel paperwork that will dissolve his marriage to Leah. Shamron suggests that Gabriel should ask Yasir Arafat about Khaled al-Khalifa. Gabriel tells Ari that Leah's move to Israel should take about a month because her doctor needs time to prepare her. After the Shamrons leave Gabriel and Chiara argue briefly over when Gabriel should sign the divorce papers. When they hear the sound of a bomb exploding, Chiara tells him to sign when he is ready. Shamron arranges a meeting between Yasir Arafat and Gabriel in Ramallah, Palestine. Arafat refers to Gabriel having saved his life. He denies any knowledge of Khaled al-Khalifa's whereabouts, but Gabriel can tell he is lying. Arafat also denies any responsibility for the harm to Gabriel's family in Vienna. Gabriel can also tell that is a lie. Yaakov Rossman takes Gabriel back to the West Bank on a supposed raid to cover the fact that they are going to talk with an informant, Mahmoud Arwish who turns out to be Yasir Arafat's aide. Arwish says that al-Khalifa is contact with Arafat. He gives Gabriel a photo of the man he says is al-Khalifa and says that when he communicates with Arafat's headquarters a European woman who speaks Arabic talks for him and refers to "Tony." Gabriel visits Natan Hofi and learns that Israeli technical intelligence has five intercepts of Voiceprint 572/B, a European woman who calls Arafat's office and mentions "Tony." On one of the intercepts Tony may be heard speaking; that error resulted in a separate Voiceprint 698/D. After a bureaucratic argument with Lev Ahroni, Gabriel sets out on a trip that will eventually lead him to Cairo, where the calls originated. The Gare de Lyon Sumayriyya Questions Commentary * Headlines in the synopsis are from the book. * Events begin in March 2006, based on Khaled al-Khalifa being born in September 1970 and his being thirty-five at the time he is woking at the dig near Aix-en-Provence .